Picture of the Day · NASA
NGC 3660 and Burçin's Galaxy
2026-05-26
The upper galaxy might be more photogenic, but the lower galaxy is more unusual. The galaxy up top is NGC 3660, a spiral galaxy similar to our own Milky Way galaxy in that it has several bright blue spiral arms and a central bar of stars, dust, and gas. Captured by chance in the featured deep and colorful image, surprisingly, is SN 2026cff, a supernova found just to the right of the central bar. Farther in the distance is the bottom galaxy, known informally as Burçin’s galaxy, but formally cataloged as LEDA 1000714. The center of this galaxy appears to be an old elliptical galaxy, but it is strangely surrounded by not one but two rings of stars. What created Burçin's galaxy is a mystery and remains a continuing topic of research, but it likely involves the accretion of one or more smaller galaxies.
via NASA APOD
Key facts
- Discovered by
- B. Jekhovsky
- Discovery site
- Algiers Obs.
- Discovery date
- 11 February 1927
- Named after
- Lili Boulanger , (French composer )
- Alternative designations
- 1927 CQ · 1925 QF, 1943 WC · 1953 CA, 1964 PG · A914 BA
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( middle ) , background
- Symbol
- (astrological)
- Observation arc
- 89.50 yr (32,689 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.1851 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.1457 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.6654 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.35 yr (1,589 d)
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Lili Boulanger
- Followed by
- Q136833
- Follows
- Q136820
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +20.492
- Orbital period
- +1588.75712535441
Show 4 more facts
- P65
Article
1181 Lilith (prov. designation: 1927 CQ) is a metallic asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 23 kilometers (14 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 11 February 1927, by Russian–French astronomer Benjamin Jekhowsky at Algiers Observatory in Algeria, Northern Africa, and named after French composer Lili Boulanger.
Classification and orbit